About a month ago I was traipsing through my local bookstore when I stumbled upon the mother of all clearances. Here I was, standing (trying not to droll) over a box the size of a small country, that was loaded up with $3.00 books, when I noticed a novel with beautiful cover art. So… trying not to solely judge a book by it’s cover… I flipped it over and read the blurb. Assuring myself that the plot sounded promising I tucked the book under my arm, and then turned to find my family. (That of course had disappeared into the low flying literature mist that my brain formed from the word sale.)
Now, of course, getting out of there with only 1 book is completely ludicrous, I think that day I left with 4, but today I will only (mildly) bash one of them. “Rain Song” by Alice J. Wisler.
Nicole is a small town girl, and if she has anything to say about it, she will remain that way. She hates motorcycles, airplanes and more recently (since the traumatic death of a distant friend of a friend) roller-coasters. She prefers the company of her fish to the company of actual humans, spends her days teaching middle school English, and her nights calming her paranoid aunts fears about cucumber neglect, but after an article she writes “about fish” prompts a man from Japan to email her… everything she has grown up to know… or not know… is about to change. Will her fear of the past keep her from finding her future? Only 1 person can really answer that… and like I said before… she’s very afraid of flying.
I’ll be honest, it took me a little while to get comfortable with the writing in this book. The problem was not the plot (although the abruptness of the 1st email took me a little by surprise) the problem was with the staccato formatting. While most authors will take several thoughts and form one long running paragraph/sentence Wisler’s thoughts were extremely choppy. For example: “When my hands feel like ice, I come inside. Suddenly I know why I haven’t commented to Harrison on his poem. I haven’t written back to him because it is clear he lives in Japan.” After about 10 chapters, my acute awareness of this finally faded and it became the characters natural cadence, but I do think it is something Wisler needs to pay very close attention to if she decides to continue her literary future. The plot was a little slow in places, and the overall story focuses more on her wacky family and their nuances than any actual “budding romance” which the back of the cover leads its potential reader to believe, but either way… it’s mildly enjoyable. It does however teach a very important lesson (which I think is enhanced if you read the authors biography – no I won’t spoil it for you.)
I don’t think that everyone will find the same amusement with this novel that I did though, so I leave you with this… read the reviews, weigh your options and if you still feel like spending the dough go for it, just make sure your not looking for life changing (because this is nothing more than – ironically enough – airplane material.)
Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: never let your 3 year old niece feed your fish unaccompanied.
For a complete book description click image
[Rating:3/5]
